The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of basil plant named ‘UF16-23-2’ that has been selected for good horticultural characteristics and resistance to basil downy mildew (BDM: Peronospora belbahrii). ‘UF16-23-2’ originated from interspecific crosses between BDM-susceptible Ocimum basilicum ‘Caesar’ and BDM-resistant Ocimum americanum (USDA accession PI 500945) made in Gainesville, Fla. in 2013-2014. All interspecific hybrids were BDM-resistant and self-sterile in the greenhouse. After being planted in an open-pollinated (OP) field with hundreds of other Ocimum hybrids in Citra, Fla. some of the interspecific hybrids (‘UF14-9-3’ and ‘UF14-9-9’) made a small number of seeds in Summer 2014. Several seedlings were selected from these OP interspecific hybrids, screened for BDM resistance, and used to produce advanced hybrids in Fall 2014. Two of these hybrid plants, ‘UF14-127-13’ and ‘UF14-129-36’, were crossed in a greenhouse in Gainesville, Fla. to produce a small number of hybrid seeds that were grown and selected in Spring 2015 for improved horticultural characteristics and BDM resistance. One selected hybrid resulting from this cross, ‘UF15-13-5’, was planted in a field with hundreds of other Ocimum hybrids in May-November 2015 in Citra, Fla. to produce OP seeds. The resulting seeds were grown and selected in Spring 2016 for improved horticultural characteristics and BDM resistance. In May 2016 one of these seedlings, ‘UF16-23-2’, was given elite status in our program and selected for further asexual propagation and trialing for garden performance and potential for culinary use.
‘UF16-23-2’ has been reproduced asexually for over 18 months through vegetative cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. ‘UF16-23-2’ was first propagated asexually by meristem tip cuttings in May, 2016 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remained true-to-type since that time. ‘UF16-23-2’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.
When compared to the female parent ‘UF15-13-5’ (not patented), both plants are BDM resistant. ‘UF16-23-2’ has large leaves with serrated edges, while ‘UF15-13-5’ has smaller leaves that do not have a pronounced serration. ‘UF16-23-2’ has an extremely vigorous well-branched upright, erect habit and initiates flowering very late in the summer season, whereas ‘UF15-13-5’ is vigorous, but has less lateral branching and initiates flowers earlier.
‘UF16-23-2’ has similar dark green foliage color to the commercial sweet basil Ocimum basilicum ‘Caeser’ (commercial cultivar, not patented), and it has darker green leaves than the commercial sweet basil Ocimum basilicum ‘Italian Large Leaf ’ (commercial cultivar, not patented). The leaf shape of ‘UF16-23-2’ is very similar to that of ‘Italian Large Leaf’, but leaf size of ‘UF16-23-2’ is slightly smaller. Plant habit of ‘UF16-23-2’ is more similar to ‘Italian Large Leaf’ than ‘Caesar’, but it has more lateral branches and initiates flowers later than both cultivars.